Management Education In A VUCA World
“Knowledge has to be improved, challenged, and increased constantly, or it vanishes.”
― Peter Ferdinand Drucker
At the end of each year, dictionaries come up with the word of the year. This year, while Cambridge Dictionary announced ‘hallucinate’ as the word of the year, Collins Dictionary chose the more apt – ‘AI’. Artificial intelligence has created more buzz this year than any other development. Seminars and reams and reams of newsprint for columns and articles have been devoted to it. Apart from AI two other terms are defining the world of work and business – VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity) and BANI (Brittle, Anxious, Non-Linear and Incomprehensible).
As a management institute honcho, we interviewed for this special B-School edition says, “The biggest risk for corporates, including Fortune 500 CEOs, is uncertainty, as business cycles are constantly changing. Thus, the biggest challenge for B-Schools is preparing talent to navigate uncertainty and volatility, and to be resilient.” This is the theme that has influenced BW Businessworld’s rankings of B-Schools in 2023.
The top order of rankings remains largely unchanged, comprising mostly first-generation IIMs and top-notch private B-Schools. Several new-generation IIMs and private institutes agile enough to mould and remould their curriculum to industry requirements are, however, also knocking at the doors of the elite club. New-age programmes, mentoring by industry experts, faculty projects and executive management programmes whose learnings are ploughed back into the flagship MBA programmes, and longer internships are some of the new measures that B-Schools have introduced to stay relevant.
As one chief human resources officer (CHRO) says, “Unfortunately, many colleges remain resistant to prolonged associations (for internships). Surprisingly, tier -1 or tier -2 colleges aren't leading in this aspect. It's the lesser-known institutions eager to enhance their standing that allow longer associations, reaping significant benefits.” A pertinent question is how are B-Schools meeting the changing expectations of industry and aspirations of GenZ in times of disruptive technologies as the world prepares for Industry 5.0?
This was a question we posed to all the B-School directors and deans, as well as CHROs. We also asked academia and HR fraternity how B-schools are inculcating the right understanding of diversity and sustainability on the campus, and grooming them for leadership roles in a world where ESG (environment, sustainability and governance) is taking centre stage on the one hand and where VUCA and BANI are the buzzwords, on the other hand. The views that we bring to you in this issue could be a great blueprint for the desired changes in management education.
Of course, we also bring to you all our regular columns and features that you look forward to.
Happy reading!
